It has been reported on backstreets.com (the excellent Bruce Springsteen fan site) that a new compilation album titled "Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Greatest Hits" will be released on January 13th, 2009 and sold exclusively at Wal-Mart. While this has become a common practice for some bands (see the Eagles, AC/DC), it is unfathomable that Springsteen would partner with a corporation so well known for its anti-union stance, its low wages, and its use of illegal immigrants.
It must be said that I am die-hard Springsteen fan, bordering on the obsessed. I have seen in him concert at least a dozen times, and I own his entire collection of music. In fact, I even attended the last show he performed with the E Street Band in Milwaukee on August 30th. It was a legendary, three-and-a-half hour performance that left me physically exhausted, but emotionally refreshed. Even my user name on this site is based on a Springsteen lyric from his song "Lost in the Flood".
However, today's news that he is planning on releasing a Greatest Hits package exclusively at Wal-Mart has made me feel angry and betrayed. This package is part of a promotion for his new album, "Working on a Dream", which will be released two weeks later. I even accepted the fact that his appearance at the half-time of the Super Bowl was just a great way to promote the upcoming studio album. But, it is well-known that Mr. Springsteen has foregone many of the trappings that come with superstardom in the music industry. He doesn't license his music for commercial use. He does not endorse products. His tours are never sponsored by a corporation. He has even joked about spending his free time counting all of the money he never made by ignoring these trappings.
So, it is not the sudden shift to overt-capitalism that bothers me most. It is the music "business" after all. And, it's not like he's playing those concerts for free. It's the fact that Bruce has written about and openly expressed his opinions on the treatment of the down-trodden in our society, and Wal-Mart takes advantage of them by paying near slave wages and offering cheaply produced Chinese goods for prices so low that it has caused many mom and pop stores to go out of business.
His 1995 album, "The Ghost of Tom Joad", dealt with everything from poor immigrants to unemployed steel workers (which struck a literal chord with me, having seen my father toil in the iron ore mines in Northern Minnesota for nearly 20 years). In his concerts, he often gives a plug to a local food shelter and encourages donations from his fans. He has also recently lent his image to a New Jersey food bank, which has been struggling to keep up with increased demand. His campaigning for John Kerry and Barack Obama has been well-documented. Mr. Springsteen's values used to be summed up in a quote from the video montage for "Born to Run"-- "Nobody wins unless everybody wins."
Now it seems that he is willing to sacrifice some of those values for a few more dollars and the unnecessary exposure that comes with an exclusive Wal-Mart promotion. There are many of us die-hard fans who not only look to Bruce's music for escape and entertainment, but also for a shared sense of purpose and responsibility. The notion that we're all in this together comes across at every Springsteen show, and it is the theme of nearly every album he has released. I have shaped many of my views on the world, in part, by listening to his music. He has given me reason to think critically about my place in the world. For that, I am forever grateful. But, his decision to partner with Wal-Mart has disappointed me beyond belief. I choose not to shop at their stores based on the very values expressed in Springsteen's core music. Now, it seems, even Bruce has shown that his integrity can be purchased for a low, low price.
I was really looking forward to the new album and likely tour, but I may pass this time around. And it absolutely kills me to type those words.